Millions of Canadians live or travel where Bell, Rogers, Telus, and Xplore simply cannot reach — or reach so poorly that the internet might as well not exist. Starlink Roam changed what remote and mobile connectivity looks like in Canada: 100–200 Mbps at a campsite in the Laurentians, on a lake in Northern Ontario, at a cabin in the Rockies, or in a community in Nunavut that had never had broadband before. But the pricing has shifted multiple times, the plan names are confusing, and American prices that show up in searches don’t apply here. This guide covers current Canadian pricing in CAD, the smart seasonal switching strategy, and how winter actually affects performance.
The questions Canadians actually type into search — at a campsite, at a lake house, in a parking lot north of Sudbury — answered plainly, with current Canadian pricing in CAD.
- 1 What does Starlink Roam actually cost in Canada right now? Four plans are available, all priced in Canadian dollars and all month-to-month with no contract. After the June 2026 price increase (effective June 18 for existing customers): Standby Mode is C$15/month — it keeps your account alive with minimal low-speed connectivity but does not support in-motion use or proper streaming. Roam 100GB is C$75/month with 100 GB of priority data per billing cycle. Roam 300GB is C$110/month with 300 GB — this tier was not raised in the June increase. Roam Unlimited is C$200/month with no data cap. GST/HST adds 5% to 15% depending on your province, so a C$75 plan runs approximately C$83–$97 all in depending on where you live. Prices and available tiers are postal-code-specific — the number on your starlink.com/ca checkout screen is the only figure that counts at your address.
- 2 Can I pause my Starlink Roam plan during the months I’m not travelling? Yes — and this is the single most important money-saving move for seasonal Canadian users. You can switch to Standby Mode (C$15/month) anytime through the Starlink app with no cancellation fee and pro-rata billing for mid-month changes. A cottage owner who runs Roam 100GB for five summer months and Standby for seven winter months pays roughly C$460 for the year — compared to C$900 for Roam 100GB year-round. That is a saving of C$440 annually just from switching intelligently, without changing what you have or do during the actual travel months. The switch takes about two minutes in the app and takes effect immediately or at the start of your next billing cycle, depending on when you make the change.
- 3 Does Starlink Roam work across Canada and in the United States? Yes — Roam 100GB and Roam 300GB work across all of Canada and the continental United States with no additional fees or plan changes required. Roam Unlimited expands this further to 160+ countries and territories globally, making it the plan for anyone who travels internationally. This cross-border feature is a genuine practical benefit for snowbirds who spend winters in Florida, Arizona, California, or Mexico and want to take their dish along without managing a separate US account. Coverage is confirmed for all 10 provinces plus Yukon, Northwest Territories, and southern Nunavut — with some limitations in the high Arctic above approximately 75°N latitude.
- 4 Is 100 GB enough for a typical Canadian cottage stay or camping trip? For most recreational cottage or camping use, 100 GB is more than adequate — and sometimes significantly more than you’ll use. A full week of moderate use — an hour of streaming nightly, daily emails, maps, some video calls, social media — typically runs 8–20 GB. A two-week cottage stay with two people streaming in the evenings and working part of the day from the cottage might use 40–60 GB. Where 100 GB gets tight: full-time remote work with multiple daily video calls, 4K streaming by multiple household members, or large file downloads and uploads. The Roam 300GB plan at C$110/month suits those situations without jumping to Unlimited at C$200. Importantly, going over 100 GB does not cut you off — speeds are reduced during network congestion rather than terminated.
- 5 Does Starlink work in a Canadian winter — at −30°C or in heavy snow? Yes — the Standard dish is rated to operate at −30°C and has a built-in electric heater that automatically melts snow and ice accumulation. The dish heater activates on its own; you don’t need to manually clear snow in normal conditions. Users in Yukon, Northern Ontario, and Manitoba report reliable year-round performance including through winters well below −30°C. Two caveats worth knowing: first, an active blizzard with heavy snow filling the air between the dish and sky can temporarily reduce speeds, though it rarely causes a complete outage. Second, extreme freezing rain can occasionally coat the dish faster than the heater clears it — in those conditions, a brief slowdown is possible. For indoor setups or very remote northern communities where temperatures regularly drop below −40°C, performance may degrade in the most extreme conditions, but service continues.
- 6 What is the Standby Mode — and what does it actually let me do? Standby Mode is capped at 500 Kbps (0.5 Mbps) — not broadband, but not nothing. At that speed, you can send and receive emails, use mapping apps, check weather, and make voice or video calls through WhatsApp, FaceTime, or Messenger, though the video quality will be low. You cannot stream Netflix, use Zoom properly, or do remote work reliably at 0.5 Mbps. Standby Mode is best understood as a way to keep the account alive and available for emergency use between trips, rather than as a functional internet connection. It does not support in-motion use — the connection is disabled above a low speed threshold when the dish detects movement. To use Starlink while driving or while at a campsite with full speed, you need to switch to a full Roam plan. That switch is instant in the app.
- 7 Why do I see different Starlink prices online — some much lower than what’s listed here? Almost certainly because those prices are in US dollars or from a different country — American Starlink plans are priced in USD and are structured differently from Canadian plans. Starlink sets prices independently by market. In the US, the equivalent Roam plans cost roughly US$55–$175 per month, which converts to roughly C$75–$240 at current exchange rates — broadly consistent with Canadian CAD pricing but not identical. Canadian plans also include a three-tier Roam structure (100GB, 300GB, Unlimited) that differs from the US offering. Always use starlink.com/ca (not starlink.com) and enter your full Canadian postal code to see the exact plans and prices available at your specific address. Prices shown on comparison sites may also reflect outdated figures from before the June 2026 increases.
- 8 Is Starlink Roam a good option for snowbirds who spend winter in the US or Mexico? Roam Unlimited is the right plan for snowbirds, and it is one of the more practical connectivity solutions available for Canadians who split their year between two countries. Roam Unlimited covers Canada and the US on the same plan with no plan change required, and extends to 160+ countries globally. You bring the same hardware, the same account, and the same monthly plan — just plug it in at your US or Mexico destination and it works. The Starlink Mini is the ideal hardware for this use case: it fits easily in luggage or a vehicle, weighs under 1 kg, and sets up in minutes. For a snowbird couple who already subscribe to some form of internet in two locations, consolidating to a single Starlink Roam Unlimited plan can simplify billing and deliver better speeds in both places.
Four plans, four meaningfully different use cases. All prices are in Canadian dollars, before applicable taxes, and reflect the June 2026 price update.
Standby Mode is not a travel plan — it is a holding pattern for the months you are not travelling. At 500 Kbps, it covers emails, basic messaging, weather checks, mapping, and low-quality voice calls. It will not stream video, support Zoom calls, or handle remote work reliably. It is stationary only — the connection disables when the dish detects motion. Its value is entirely about what it saves compared to paying full Roam rates year-round. A seasonal RVer who uses Starlink for five months and runs Standby the other seven pays C$460 for the year versus C$900 on Roam 100GB all year — a saving of C$440 for doing nothing more than switching plans in the app when you get home. The Standby price tripled from C$5 to C$15 in the June 2026 increase, which reduced the seasonal saving margin but did not eliminate it. It remains the cheapest way to keep the account active and ready to reactivate immediately when travel season starts again.
Roam 100GB is the plan most Canadian RVers and cottage owners start with, and for good reason. It provides 100 GB of high-speed priority data per billing month — data that is treated as higher-priority on the network than basic economy tiers. Once you exceed 100 GB, speeds are reduced during network congestion rather than cut off, so you maintain basic connectivity for email and maps. The plan covers all of Canada and the continental United States on the same subscription with no extra cost. In-motion use is supported — passengers in a vehicle can use the internet while the RV is driving. For a typical Ontario or BC cottage couple spending weekends away from May to October, watching an hour of TV in the evenings and video calling the grandkids twice a week, 100 GB is comfortably sufficient for a full month’s use. Track your first month’s consumption through the Starlink app to confirm — the usage graph is visible under your account.
Roam 300GB is the plan that most Canadians skip over — and it is often the right answer for frequent or extended travellers who don’t need unlimited data but find 100 GB limiting. At C$110/month it is C$35 more than Roam 100GB and C$90 less than Roam Unlimited, sitting in a sweet spot for remote workers spending weeks at a time at a lake house or cottage, couples streaming regularly in the evenings, or anyone who found themselves going over 100 GB more than once. Notably, Roam 300GB was not raised in the June 2026 price increase — making it even better relative value than before. A 300 GB monthly allowance covers two to three weeks of relaxed remote work from a cottage: daily video calls, streaming 4K in the evenings, uploading files, and general internet use without watching the meter constantly. Covers all of Canada and the continental United States included.
Roam Unlimited removes the data cap entirely and extends coverage to 160+ countries and territories — making it the plan for full-time RVers, remote workers whose job depends on the connection, and Canadian snowbirds who travel internationally. No usage tracking, no speed reduction mid-month, no worrying about what you’ve streamed. The Unlimited plan covers Canada, the United States, Mexico, and most other countries in a single subscription — a practical solution for snowbirds heading to Florida, Arizona, or Mexico for several months who would otherwise need a separate internet arrangement at their winter destination. At C$200/month it represents a meaningful cost, but for full-time travellers or anyone generating income remotely from the road, it is the only plan where the connection is a reliable tool rather than something you have to manage carefully. The Unlimited plan also typically receives higher network priority than capped plans, which matters during peak hours in busier areas.
Two dish options exist for Roam in Canada. The Mini wins for most travellers on weight, power, and portability alone — but the Standard has specific advantages worth knowing.
C$299–$399 at Starlink (often C$299 at Best Buy or on promotion) — the Mini is compact, portable, and purpose-built for exactly the kind of use a Canadian Roam subscriber has. It weighs under 1 kg, roughly the size of a 15-inch laptop, and fits in a backpack. It powers from USB-C Power Delivery, meaning it runs off most quality portable power stations, a 12V system in a caravan, or even a large power bank — no inverter needed. Average power draw is approximately 20–40 watts in active use, with around 15W at idle. The Mini includes a built-in Wi-Fi router, eliminating the separate router the Standard requires, plus a kickstand and pole mount in the box. For a Canadian cottage owner, RVer, or snowbird, the Mini is the hardware to get. The lower power draw is meaningful off-grid, and the compact size means it goes in the luggage, not in a separate case. In Canadian winter conditions, the Mini carries the same IP67 weatherproofing as the Standard dish and includes the same automatic snow-melt heater system.
C$599 (often free to new Residential customers in eligible areas) — the Standard 4 is the full-size residential dish, larger than the Mini and best suited to a fixed roof or pole mount. It draws 50–75W in active use compared to the Mini’s 15–40W, and requires a separate router (included in the kit). The Standard provides marginally higher throughput and a slightly wider field of view, which helps in locations where trees or structures clip part of the sky. For a Canadian cottage owner using Starlink at a single fixed location all season, the Standard 4 paired with a Residential plan (not a Roam plan) is often the better and cheaper option — Residential plans provide unlimited data from C$75/month with higher network priority, while Roam plans with the Standard hardware cost more per month for less data. Use the Mini with a Roam plan for travel. Use the Standard with a Residential plan for a fixed seasonal property.
Starlink charges GST plus applicable provincial sales tax on both the hardware purchase and the monthly subscription. The rate varies significantly by province: Alberta pays 5% GST only; Ontario pays 13% HST; Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, Newfoundland, and PEI pay 15% HST; Quebec pays 5% GST plus 9.975% QST for approximately 15%; BC pays 5% GST plus 7% PST for 12%. A C$75/month Roam 100GB plan runs approximately C$83 in Alberta and C$86 in Ontario all-in. Hardware is also taxed at purchase. Factor your province’s rate into your total budget before ordering.
All four plans across every factor that matters for Canadian travellers and cottage owners.
| Feature | Standby Mode | Roam 100GB | Roam 300GB | Roam Unlimited |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Price (CAD, before tax) | C$15/month | C$75/month | C$110/month | C$200/month |
| Price before June 2026 | C$5 | C$70 | C$110 (unchanged) | C$189 |
| Data Included | Minimal (500 Kbps) | 100 GB priority | 300 GB priority | Unlimited |
| Speed | Up to 0.5 Mbps | 50–200 Mbps typical | 50–200 Mbps typical | 50–200 Mbps typical |
| In-Motion Use | ❌ Stationary only | ✅ Supported | ✅ Supported | ✅ Supported |
| After Data Cap | — | Speed reduced, not cut off | Speed reduced, not cut off | No cap — no reduction |
| USA Coverage | ⚠️ Limited | ✅ Continental USA | ✅ Continental USA | ✅ 160+ countries |
| Contract | None · month-to-month | None · month-to-month | None · month-to-month | None · month-to-month |
| Switch Plans | ✅ Anytime in app | ✅ Anytime in app | ✅ Anytime in app | ✅ Anytime in app |
| Video Calls / Zoom | ❌ Not reliably | ✅ Yes | ✅ Yes | ✅ Yes |
| HD Streaming (Netflix) | ❌ No | ✅ Up to ~35 hrs/mo HD | ✅ Up to ~100 hrs/mo HD | ✅ Unlimited |
| Annual Cost (plan only) | C$180/yr | C$900/yr | C$1,320/yr | C$2,400/yr |
| Best Hardware | Mini C$299–$399 | Mini C$299–$399 | Mini C$299–$399 | Mini or Standard |
| Good For Snowbirds? | ❌ No | ⚠️ Within Canada + US only | ⚠️ Within Canada + US only | ✅ 160+ countries globally |
| Seasonal Switch Saving (5 mo Roam + 7 mo Standby) | C$460/yr on 100GB tier — saves C$440 vs Roam 100GB year-round | |||
All prices in Canadian dollars, before GST/HST/PST. Post-June 2026 pricing confirmed from multiple Canadian sources. Always verify at starlink.com/ca with your postal code — prices, tiers, and hardware options are address-specific. Streaming estimates based on ~3 GB/hr HD Netflix. Speed figures reflect typical real-world Canadian campsite and cottage experience, not guaranteed rates.
Winter is the question that separates Canada from almost every other Starlink market. Here is the practical reality for people who need this to work at −20°C in February.
The Standard dish and the Mini both include a built-in electric heater that activates automatically when the temperature drops. Normal winter snow accumulation — the kind that falls overnight in Ontario, Quebec, or BC — melts off the dish without you touching it. Users across Northern Ontario, Manitoba, Saskatchewan, and the Prairies consistently report reliable connectivity through minus 30°C and below, without manual snow clearing and without meaningful speed reduction from the cold itself. The dish is rated to operate from −30°C to +40°C. The cable, connectors, and housing are all weather-sealed. In most of Canada, winter is not the barrier people expect it to be.
Two winter conditions actually cause issues. First: active blizzards with heavy snow filling the air column between the dish and the sky — not the snow sitting on the dish (the heater handles that), but thick snowfall mid-storm reducing line-of-sight clarity to the satellites. This typically causes reduced speeds and occasional drops for the duration of the storm, not a persistent outage. Second: freezing rain that coats the dish faster than the heater clears it — extreme ice events can temporarily overwhelm the heater in severe cases. For the high Arctic above approximately 75°N latitude, where temperatures regularly fall below −40°C, performance may degrade in the most extreme cold. For the rest of Canada, including the Yukon and NWT, service continues year-round with only storm-related interruptions.
Starlink covers all of Yukon, the Northwest Territories, and southern Nunavut. In these communities, it is often the only broadband-capable internet option, replacing legacy geostationary satellite services that delivered a fraction of the speed at comparable or higher monthly cost. Speeds in the far north typically run 50–150 Mbps — somewhat lower than southern Canada during peak times due to satellite geometry at higher latitudes, but still dramatically better than anything previously available. For communities in the high Arctic above 75°N, coverage is limited and requires a specific polar tier — check starlink.com/ca with the specific postal code before ordering if you’re north of that threshold.
For off-grid setups in winter, two things matter more than in summer. First: the dish heater draws additional power to melt snow, so your power budget needs to account for higher average draw than in summer months — plan for 40–60W average in heavy winter conditions rather than the 20–30W typical in summer. Second: grid power outages during winter storms — a power cut takes the dish offline regardless of how well the connection was working. A small uninterruptible power supply (UPS) rated for 50–100W keeps the Starlink setup running for 30–60 minutes through a brief grid outage, which covers most short blackouts during winter storms. For longer off-grid situations, a 12V LiFePO4 battery paired with a solar panel and a DC–to–USB-C PD adapter powers the Mini directly without an inverter, saving 15–20% on conversion losses.
These are the situations that actually drive Canadians to search for Starlink Roam — answered for the real Canadian travel and cottage context.
The seasonal switching strategy was built for you. Run Roam 100GB at C$75/month from May through October (six months), then switch to Standby at C$15/month for November through April. Total annual cost: C$540 — compared to C$900 for Roam 100GB all year. If you find that six months of active use regularly pushes you toward 100 GB, bump to Roam 300GB for the cottage months only. The switch takes two minutes in the Starlink app. If your cottage has a permanent fixed address and you use the internet heavily all season, consider a Residential plan on the Standard dish instead — unlimited data from C$75/month with higher network priority, no data cap, and lower monthly cost for stationary use than Roam.
Roam Unlimited. The plan covers 160+ countries on a single Canadian account at C$200/month — no new account, no plan change, no separate subscription in the US or Mexico. Bring the Mini in your luggage, plug it in at your Florida or Arizona rental, and it works. For a Canadian couple paying separately for Canadian and US internet, consolidating to a single Roam Unlimited subscription can simplify both the billing and the setup. The Starlink Mini weighs under 1 kg, fits in a carry-on bag, and sets up in minutes anywhere in the world. If you own rather than rent your US or Mexican accommodation, the Mini can be left set up there between seasons — it holds its last configuration and reconnects automatically.
Roam Unlimited for travel months, Standby for the weeks you’re parked at home between legs. An RVer on the road for eight months a year pays approximately C$1,720 annually on this strategy — versus C$2,400 for Roam Unlimited all twelve months. The Mini is the right hardware: compact enough to throw in a cupboard when you stop for the night, USB-C powered so it runs cleanly from your van’s 12V system, and light enough that a roof mount doesn’t create a meaningful aerodynamic or weight problem. Coverage is consistent across all provinces and the continental US with no plan change at the border.
Roam 300GB or Roam Unlimited depending on how heavily you use the connection for work. For most single remote workers — daily video calls, file uploads, email, general browsing — 300 GB per month is sufficient and costs C$90 less per month than Unlimited. At C$110/month and unchanged by the June 2026 price increase, it represents the best relative value in the current Canadian Roam lineup for this use case. If your work involves large video file transfers, continuous video recording uploads, or multiple heavy users on the same connection, Roam Unlimited at C$200 eliminates the calculation entirely. Use the Starlink obstruction check tool before committing to a remote work location — a cabin under heavy tree canopy can limit the dish’s ability to maintain a stable connection, and finding that out before booking a two-month stay is better than discovering it on day one.
For older Canadians heading to the lake, the Maritimes, the Rockies, or northern destinations where mobile bars have always been a source of frustration, Starlink Roam addresses something specific: the difference between genuinely being reachable and being cut off. A video call with the grandkids that works clearly from a campsite in Algonquin Park or a lake in Northern Ontario used to require luck with one bar of cellular reception. With Starlink, it is as reliable as being at home. The Roam 100GB plan at C$75/month covers a family’s moderate travel use without complex management. Setup takes under ten minutes with the Starlink app walking through each step. No technical knowledge is required. If something goes wrong, the same app diagnoses most issues. For medical telehealth appointments — increasingly useful for travellers who want to consult a doctor without returning home — a Starlink connection at 50–150 Mbps is more than adequate for any video-based medical service available in Canada.
Things you figure out after a season on the road — or from someone who already has.
Starlink’s Canadian pricing, plan availability, and hardware offers are specific to your postal code — not your province, not your city. A rural Ontario postal code may show a free hardware offer and the Roam 100GB at C$75; an urban Toronto postal code may show different hardware terms and a waitlist for some residential tiers. Enter your full six-character Canadian postal code at starlink.com/ca before reading any comparison article, including this one. The checkout screen at your postal code is the only number that counts. Starlink has also added demand surcharges in some congested urban areas that can affect residential plan availability — Roam plans are generally available immediately at all addresses, but check yours before assuming.
Starlink bills mid-month plan switches on a pro-rata basis, which means you are never paying for more than the days you’re actually on each plan. If you arrive home from a six-week trip on the 12th of the month, switch to Standby on the 12th and pay only 12 days of Roam plus 18 days of Standby. The switch takes effect immediately and the math is handled automatically. This makes it practical to switch precisely when you arrive and depart rather than waiting for billing cycle boundaries. The same logic applies if you go over 100 GB toward the end of the month and want to upgrade to 300GB or Unlimited — you pay only the remaining days at the higher rate, not a full month.
Starlink is the right tool when mobile doesn’t work — not when mobile is available. In any town, on Trans-Canada corridors, at a marina, or at a provincial park campsite within 30–40 km of a town, Telus or Rogers mobile often beats Starlink on cost and convenience — especially for short stays where setting up a dish feels like overkill. The practical approach: carry a Telus prepaid SIM (the widest rural Canadian coverage among the big carriers) as your first layer, and use Starlink when you’re far enough from the towers that the bars are gone. For a full cottage season or an extended RV trip into remote areas, Starlink replaces the mobile layer entirely and removes the coverage anxiety. For a long weekend near a cottage town, the mobile SIM may be all you need.
The Starlink app includes an obstruction check tool that uses your phone’s camera to map the sky view from where you plan to position the dish. Hold the phone at the height the dish will sit and sweep it slowly across the full arc of sky. Green areas are clear; red areas are blocked by obstructions. A heavy tree canopy that blocks 30–40% of the sky will not prevent a connection, but it will cause periodic speed drops as satellites pass behind the canopy. A clear open patch of sky — even 5–10 metres away from the campsite, with the cable running across the grass — consistently outperforms the same dish sitting under a tree. Do the obstruction check before drilling any holes or buying any mounting hardware, and at a new campsite before you commit to the spot. Two minutes of this check prevents hours of troubleshooting later.
Starlink sets prices independently in each market, in local currency. US Roam plans are priced in USD — currently approximately US$55–$175 per month depending on the tier. At a September 2026 exchange rate of roughly 1.36, that converts to approximately C$75–$238 Canadian, broadly similar to Canadian CAD prices but not identical. Additionally, the Canadian lineup includes the Roam 300GB tier that does not exist in the US market. Any price you see quoted in USD on a US website does not apply to a Canadian account, and any comparison that mixes USD and CAD figures without flagging the currency is doing you a disservice. starlink.com/ca with your Canadian postal code is the definitive source for what you will actually pay.
All prices are in Canadian dollars (CAD) before applicable GST/HST/PST and reflect Starlink Canada pricing following the May 2026 announcement, effective June 18, 2026 for existing customers: Standby Mode C$15/month, Roam 100GB C$75/month, Roam 300GB C$110/month, Roam Unlimited C$200/month. Hardware pricing is approximate and subject to promotional changes at starlink.com/ca. Mini hardware typically C$299–$399; Standard dish C$599, often free to new Residential customers in eligible areas. Pricing, plan availability, and hardware offers are postal-code-specific — verify at starlink.com/ca with your Canadian postal code before ordering. GST/HST/PST rates are provincial and subject to change; rates used in this guide reflect published provincial rates as of 2026. Starlink coverage extends to all 10 provinces, Yukon, Northwest Territories, and southern Nunavut; high-Arctic coverage above 75°N is limited. Dish rated to −30°C operating temperature per SpaceX specifications. This content is independently researched and is not affiliated with or endorsed by SpaceX or Starlink. Starlink has changed Canadian pricing multiple times within the past year — always verify before ordering.